Students studying World War One raised funds for the Royal British Legion by baking trench cakes of the kind which were sent to the Front during the war.

Year 9 students at Ewell Castle School, in Church Street, Ewell, were asked to bake their own trench cakes, which were a wartime favourite, as part of the school’s plans to commemorate the centenary of the First World War.

Trench cake was prepared mostly by the mothers and wives of soldiers during the First World War and sent to them at the Front.

Soldiers suffered from constipation as their diet lacked fruit and vitamins but the fruit cake helped a bit.

The cake also provided troops with an emotional and moral lifting boost.

Students brought their cakes into school and they were then judged for appearance and taste.

The pupil with the winning cake, Mithiran, received vouchers as a prize, and all the cakes were then cut up and sold at break time.

More than £40 was raised as a result of the cake sale, to be donated to The Royal British Legion.

Peter Harris, principal of Ewell Castle School, who helped judge the competition said: "It was fantastic to see so many pupils and their families participating in this trench cake competition and bring both history and stories from the First World War to life in such an engaging manner.

"The cakes I tasted were actually quite nice considering they lacked some main cake-making ingredients."

The ingredients for the cake include four, cocoa powder, margarine, bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, currents, sugar and mixed spice, but not eggs.